Essence of Bravery
by potterbiscuits
Summary: In which a certain redheaded princess/wizard is welcomed to Hogwarts, but soon discovers something in herself which will make her Hogwarts experience very unique. It's so hard not to spoil the whole story right here...
1. The Sorting

Welcoming hundreds of new students to Hogwarts castle was Hagrid's favorite part of his job. The smiling faces, high-pitched chatter, and general excited charisma that emanated from first-years warmed the old groundskeeper's heart. Just two years ago, a young Harry Potter had been among this group. Hagrid chortled, his warm breath changing to swirling clouds in the freezing air.

A redheaded princess and her blonde companion were welcomed into their new school. Looking up at the ceiling, the princess gasped with delight. Above her, rather than a plain ceiling, was the lifelike image of a starry black sky. The redhead squeezed her friend's hand. She spoke with a thick Scottish accent, "It's just like your father said! It's like there's no ceiling at all!"

The princess recalled when she received her admittance letter. It came as quite a surprise - the only known power possessed by the princess and her family was political, granted by their royal ancestry. Showing her best friend the mysterious letter resulted in many a late night spent talking, snuggled in a blanket by the fire, a cup of warm tea clutched in her small hands. After dinner in the royal castle every night, the princess would run through the vast fields of Scotland to a strange-looking, dilapidated house on a hill. The door would be opened by her best friend, Luna, waving a pale hand and calling the princess's name. The girls would make a fire in the fireplace and wait until Luna's father had finished his work so he would come downstairs and tell them his stories. Mr. Lovegood would talk for hours, about powerful spells, brave wizards, fantastic creatures, and about Hogwarts, the most marvelous school the princess had ever heard of. The princess was enthralled by the idea of this wizarding world, and the fact that she would soon be a part of it.

A tall woman with gray hair and gleaming silver spectacles herded the first-years into the Great Hall, which was filled with the shouts and conversation of older students. The princess noted that they were separated into four groups, each group seated at a massive rectangular wooden table. A colorful, decorated banner hung above each group. Luna leaned close to her friend and pointed to an old leather witch's hat perched on a stool at the far end of the hall. "That Sorting Hat will judge our personalities and sort into one of these four houses." Her voice was light and musical. She proceeded to gesture toward one of the banners. "The yellow is for Hufflepuff, the green for Slytherin, blue for Ravenclaw, and red for Gryffindor." The princess glanced at each table in turn, wondering where she'd end up.

The gray haired woman stood beside the hat, her eyes sweeping the new batch of students. She called out in a powerful, slightly nasally voice, "My name is Professor McGonagall, and it is my pleasure to welcome you all to Hogwarts. You will now be sorted into your houses." She reached into her robes, removed a large scroll, and read aloud from the top. "Edward Allen!"

A trembling boy with shaggy, dirt-colored hair walked nervously up to the front of the hall and sat on the wooden stool. Professor McGonagall lowered the hat onto the boy's head. The hall was filled with silence, soon broken by the sound of a large rip in the hat, forming the shape of a mouth. Voice echoing through the space, the Sorting Hat screamed out, "RAVENCLAW!" A table in the far corner of the Great Hall erupted with cheers, as a grinning Edward Allen ran to join his house.

After two shouts of "GRYFFINDOR!" and one of "SLYTHERIN!", the redheaded princess became lost in her own thoughts. Where did she fit in? With the brave, the loyal, the creative, the cunning? Who was she, really?

The Professor's voice announcing "Luna Lovegood!" awakened the princess from her daydream. She watched her friend calmly approach the front of the Great Hall, walking so lightly she appeared to glide along the floor. The Sorting Hat was lowered onto Luna's pale blonde hair as she made eye contact with her best friend. The princess gave a reassuring grin. The hat soon reached its decision with a roaring "RAVENCLAW!" Luna smiled calmly and floated to the back corner of the hall. Only a few students remained, including the princess.

"Princess Merida of DunBroch!" called Professor McGonagall. All eyes shot to the girl in the center of the room with the stunning red curls and confident gaze.

"Got another sister, do ya, Weasley?" called a blond boy from the Slytherin table, the statement greeted by guffaws from his lackeys.

A Gryffindor boy whose face had gone as red as his hair retorted, "Shut it, Malfoy." The princess gave him a friendly smile and sauntered up to the wooden stool, hair flowing behind her like dragon's breath. Professor McGonagall spent a good twenty seconds attempting to jam the Sorting Hat over the princess's mass of curls (resulting in a wave of giggles from the other students) before the princess grabbed onto the brim of the hat and yanked it down herself. She folded her hands on her lap and closed her eyes.

_Ah, an easy one. _The princess jumped - the Sorting Hat was speaking inside her head! She grinned widely and eagerly waited for her result. _Brave, kind, and daring - a Gryffindor through and through. _Her smile grew even wider. _It's uncanny though, how much you remind me…. Could it be…? Godric, is that you? Godric?! Godric! Ah, it's been so long! _She furrowed her brow. "Godric?" she whispered. _Godric I can't believe you've…. Hm….. Yes, yes, I….. I see. Interesting, very interesting. Well, it's great to hear your voice again, Godric, even if it has to be this way, I…. Oh! Princess, I'm so very sorry, I was…. Well, never mind, it's not important. Your house will be…. _"GRYFFINDOR!"

The last word echoed through the hall and the Gryffindor table erupted with cheers. The princess hurriedly removed the Sorting Hat from her head and walked quickly to the table, sitting at the end of the bench beside a rather corpulent boy with matted brown hair who was fiddling with a clear ball.

The princess tapped the boy's shoulder. "Excuse me, but… do you know of anyone named Godric?" He turned to her, with an expression that almost looked surprised.

"Uhh… I…" at that moment, the sphere he was holding filled with a red smoke. He looked dejectedly at the object. "I can't remember."


	2. The Inquiry

The Sorting ceremony was followed by a lavish feast. Merida piled her plate high with meats and stews and vegetable dishes while observing the actions of her new roommates. She sat between a slightly awkward second-year boy whose name was Neville, which the princess had deduced by listening to conversations around her, and a small first-year girl who was last to be sorted and had stunning red hair like Merida's own.

She finished her food rather quickly and turned to the redheaded girl on her right. "Hello, my name's Merida," she announced politely.

The girl's head shot up from her plate and she gawked surprisedly at the princess with wide hazel eyes. "Um-uhh-It's an-um-pleasure to meet you, Princess." she squeaked nervously, lowering her head sharply in an awkward bow.

the princess blushed furiously; she hated formalities like these. "Please, just call me Merida!" she grinned at the girl, whose face had gone quite pink as well. "What's your name?"

"I'm Ginny Weasley," she said softly. The princess smiled.

Just as Merida gulped down the last of her pumpkin juice, Professor McGonagall called for the prefects to escort all students to their dormitories. A boy who looked very much like Ginny stood up at the opposite end of the table and began to herd the first years out of the hall.

Ginny leaned toward Merida. "My brother, Percy." The princess studied the boy's face, noticing that he was almost identical to Ginny, although looking a bit older. The similarity was incredible.

Percy led the Gryffindor students through meandering hallways and up countless sets of stairs, filled with paintings and portraits that spoke, moved, and greeted the students. Merida watched in awe as Ginny waved and smiled back, as if talking paintings were perfectly normal. Halfway up a flight, Merida felt the wood beneath her feet begin to rumble, and watched as the top of the staircase swung around ninety degrees and attached to the floor of a totally different passage. "Be careful of the staircases," Percy announced. "They like to shift from time to time." Merida couldn't help but laugh - could this school be any more eccentric?

Eventually, the group reached a larger-than-life portrait of a rather corpulent woman wearing a flowing white garment and a floral headdress. Her piggy eyes peered over the students in a critical glare. Her voice rang out loud and boisterously, "Password?"

Percy stepped to the front of the group. "Blibbering Humdinger." He practically shouted the words, which Merida thought sounded like utter nonsense.

The fat lady's mouth curled into a rather off-putting smile as her painting swung to the side, revealing a small door. Percy suggested that the students form a single file line, but this was ignored, and a bout of pushing, shoving, and yelling ensued.

By the time the clock struck ten, the Gryffindor first-year girls had unpacked their things and settled into their dormitory. Merida sat on her bed, hairbrush in hand and stared out the large window on the far wall. She wished her best friend could be there with her. Luna was a perfect fit for Ravenclaw - the girl was clever beyond belief, with an imagination more vast than the starry night sky. In her heart, Merida knew that they were each placed where they belonged, but still, she wanted to share this - pun intended - magical experience with the girl who had practically introduced it to her in the first place. The princess turned her head to look at Ginny, who was attempting to fold a chunky magenta sweater with a huge white "G" sewn onto the front. Ginny was a nice girl, and seemed to know a lot about Hogwarts, probably because of her brother. Perhaps she could answer the question that had been bugging the princess since the Sorting Ceremony that afternoon…

Merida crossed the room to her friend's bed and knelt next to her on the floor. "Ginny," she inquired, "Do you, by any chance, know anyone named Godric?"

The redheaded girl gave her a quizzical look. "Not personally, no. The only Godric I know of is Godric Gryffindor."

"Who's that?" the princess asked with a blank stare.

Ginny laughed. "You really don't know much about the wizarding world, do you? Godric Gryffindor was one of the four founders of Hogwarts. The founder of Gryffindor House." she paused, raising an eyebrow. "Why are you asking about him, anyway?"

This made absolutely no sense. Why would the Sorting Hat be talking about Godric Gryffindor in Merida's head? Having a conversation with him, practically? Merida stood up and began to walk back to her bed. "It's nothing," she mumbled quickly. Ginny shrugged and resumed to unpacking her clothes.

The princess drew back the covers and settled into bed, her thick curls spreading around her face like the mane of a lion. Godric Gryffindor, one of the founders of Hogwarts. Being spoken to by the Sorting Hat. During Merida's sorting. The thought was ridiculous. How old was Hogwarts, anyway? Wouldn't Godric Gryffindor be dead by now? Merida sighed. She needed answers.

The princess got out of bed with a huff and began to rummage through her trunk. She lifted up a heavy textbook she had purchased when Luna and her father took her to Diagon Alley to pick up her school supplies. The book's maroon cover was embossed with a golden Hogwarts crest. She opened the book to its title page, reading the words to herself. _Hogwarts, a History_.

Merida reached into her trunk once more and pulled out her wand - Ebony, phoenix feather, 12 inches, supple, according to Mr. Ollivander's description. She gave it a small wave, using a simple spell that Mr. Lovegood had shown her. "_Lumos_." The tip of Merida's jet-black wand held a tiny ball of light, which she held close to her textbook. Merida settled back into her bed, ready for potentially reading all night long - whatever would bring her closer to solving her mystery.


	3. The Information

It was pitch black in the Gryffindor first-year girls' dormitories. Pitch black except for the wand tip of a redheaded princess, eagerly reading a brand-new copy of her school textbook, eager for answers to a question that had been bugging her since the Sorting Ceremony. She needed to know - Who was Godric Gryffindor?

_Hogwarts, A History. Chapter One: The Founding of the Four Houses_

_In the year of 990 AD, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was founded by four of the greatest wizards who ever lived. They were Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Godric Gryffindor. These four great wizards soon reached a disagreement regarding what kind of students they wanted to teach at this new wizarding school. _

_Slytherin preferred students of great ambition and cunning, like himself. He wanted to teach young wizards who craved power and would pursue this power using any means necessary. Ravenclaw wanted to teach students who craved knowledge above all else, students who were intelligent, witty, and creative - wizards who would use magic to solve perplexing problems rather than use it for trivial things. Hufflepuff was not picky about the personalities or motives of her students and was willing to teach anyone willing to learn. She valued qualities such as loyalty and kindness in people and wanted to pass these qualities down among new generations. Gryffindor preferred to teach students who possessed immense courage and put their friends before all else. He felt that students with such heroic qualities deserved the best education and would go far in the wizarding world._

_To deal with this conflict, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin founded Hogwarts together and divided it into four houses for four different types of students, each represented with a color and animal crest. An enchanted Sorting Hat would examine the student's thoughts and sort them into one of the four houses. Students with immense courage were sorted into Gryffindor house, decorated with a red and gold lion banner. Those who were ambitious and power-driven belonged to Slytherin house and were represented by a green and silver crest with a serpent. Students with outstanding intelligence and wit went to Ravenclaw house, represented by a raven on a blue and bronze crest. Lastly, students who were kind and loyal were sorted into Hufflepuff house with its badger crest decorated with yellow and black. The practice of the Sorting Ceremony lives on into the present day, as new young wizards attend Hogwarts School._

Merida yawned deeply - there wasn't much information here, none she could use, anyway. Not much she hadn't already known. Nothing about a third party present during the Sorting. Perhaps it was nothing. It may have just been a trick in her mind, caught up in the moment, making her imagine things.

"_Nox_." The princess put out her wand light with a sigh. She closed the textbook, leaning over the side of the bed to return it to her trunk, quietly closing the lid and turning a small silver key in the lock. Laying her wand on a bedside table, something caught the princess's eye - a faint yellow light peeking out of the keyhole of her locked trunk. She undid the lock and opened it, revealing a sight she would have never thought possible before today.

Something was written in stiff cursive handwriting along the bottom of a maroon leather textbook, the one she had just been reading from. Those words definitely had not been there before. Merida relit her wand and held it close to the book's edge. It wasn't quite a sentence, more of a direction, rather. A direction to a page, it seemed, a page not in this textbook. A page in a book that had not been listed on the Hogwarts first-year supply list.

_Page 673, My Life's Work - Godric Gryffindor_


End file.
